Your rights when paying by credit card How to complain

To complain to your credit card company about a faulty product or service.

1Write to your card company

If there is a problem with a credit card purchase and your card provider won't help, you can take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service

If you have a problem with something you've bought with a credit card, you may want to take the matter up with the credit provider rather than the retailer. This could be because the retailer has refused to help, hasn't answered your letters, or has gone bust.

Write to the credit provider with the date and full details of the transaction, what your problem is and what you want done about it (for example, a refund). 

Explain any contact you've had with the retailer about the matter. Give the creditor a reasonable time to respond, say, 14 days.

You can use our section 75 sample letters as the basis for your claim, adapting it to your exact circumstances.

2Escalate matters

If the credit provider does not respond, or if it refuses your claim, give it one final chance to change its stance and warn that if it doesn't that you will refer your dispute to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You have the right to go to the Ombudsman if you reach 'deadlock' with the credit provider or more than eight weeks has passed from when you submitted you claim to it without receiving a substantive response.

Going to the Ombudsman is completely free and you only need complete a simple claim form. If the Ombudsman agrees with your claim it can order the credit provider to compensate you (up to £100,000). If you are not happy with the Ombudsman's decision you are still free to go to court.

3Begin court proceedings

If the credit provider does not respond, in theory you could start court action rather than go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. However, court action should be used as a last resort and where there is a recognised alternative means for resolving a dispute open to you, the judge may ask why you didn't use it. 

There is now a requirement under the Civil Procedure Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct to set out any form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) that you consider the most suitable and invite the other party to agree to this, before issuing proceedings.

Obviously not all cases may be suitable for ADR, but it at least should be considered, along with the other requirements of the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct, which should be looked upon as a form of best practice, otherwise the court could impose sanctions for failure to comply with the Practice Direction.

Basically the Pre-Action Protocol sets out what is expected of the parties to a dispute and the efforts they should both make to keep the dispute out of court. The parties should be open about their claim and defence and shouldn't hold back information or documents.

Use our 'letter before action' template letter, produced in accordance with the Civil Procedure Pre-Action Protocol.

Going to court is also more complex than taking a claim to the Ombudsman and unlike a claim to the Ombudsman you will have to attend in person to present your claim. It could also be much more costly. 

Unless your case is a 'small claim' or you've got legal expenses cover, you'll have to foot the bill for legal costs yourself. While you should have most or all of these paid back to you if your claim is successful, you may initially have to find the money to pay for a solicitor and possibly a barrister.

If your claim is less than £5,000 in England and Wales or £3,000 in Scotland and Northern Ireland, you can proceed through the small claims court - or equivalent. You are not expected to employ a legal representative in these courts, so the costs are much lower.